The present invention relates in general to vertical height adjustment of leveled loads on supports.
It is already well known in the art that adjustments by wedge displacement may be effected in response to selective rotation of a screw bolt, as disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,814 to Mann in connection with clamps. Such adjustment involves imparting rotation to the screw bolt at its head end for axial displacement through a reaction element, in order to transfer such displacement to an actuating wedge along the screw axis to thereby cause displacement of an adjustment wedge in a lateral direction relative to the screw axis by its sliding contact with the actuating wedge. However, use of the foregoing type of wedge adjustment arrangement has not been suggested for nor applied to a load support environment such as shipboard machinery requiring vertical height adjustment without disturbance of its load leveled condition.
In accordance with the present invention, a screw adjusted wedge arrangement includes a pair of outer wedges separated by and in sliding engagement with an intermediate actuating wedge having a slot formation therein through which a centering pin extends vertically between the outer wedges. The outer wedges prevent rotation of the centering pin and hold it axially fixed relative to the axis of a screw bolt so that selective rotation of the screw bolt, threadedly extending through the centering pin within the slot formation, causes it to be horizontally displaced along the screw axis relative to the outer wedges. Such horizontal displacement of the screw bolt is transferred to the actuating wedge in sliding contact with the confronting surfaces of the outer wedges so as to cause vertical displacement of the outer wedges relative to each other laterally of the screw axis. One of such outer wedges mounts a load support thereon in vertical alignment with the centering pin. Vertical displacement of an outer wedge by selective rotation of the screw bolt is thereby transferred to the load support for in-situ height adjustment of heavy leveled loads on such support without level disturbance.